Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."
No one member “directs” or “controls” the actions of the other members of the group.
Group decisions are just that, group decisions.
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This vote is called a “group conscience.”
But There Are Leaders…
This tradition has been misquoted many times as “we have no leaders.”
Groups clearly have other “leaders” also.
These, too, are leaders, but they do not govern either.
To compensate for my low self-esteem, I usually overcompensated.
So that I would feel that I was truly a part of the team.
But, it never really worked.
There was nobody who “ran” things.
Nobody was “in charge.”
Our leaders were but trusted servants, they did not govern.
As I keptcoming back to the various meetings, I discovered that Al-Anon really meant what it said.
Every meeting I ever attended was just as much “my” meeting as it was anyone’s.
The person in the chair was an Aussie bloke who called mostly males only to speak.
After the first few men spoke, the females were getting restless.
After the next few guys spoke, some of the women got really agitated.
Then, after a few more mostly male calls, one of the women literally exploded.
She stood up and shouted, “No!
That’s it, you sexist pig!
Not worth hearing?”
A few others picked up the chant, and a momentary silence fell.
The woman was asked: “hey state your case to us all.”
The man in the chair was then asked to kindly state his case.
